Bhagavad Gita Summary: Chapter 14: Gunatraya Vibhagayoga or The Yoga of the Division of Three Gunas

Chapter 14: Gunatraya Vibhagayoga (27 verses) The Yoga of the Division of Three Gunas.

 

Guṇa is a concept in Hinduism and Sikhism, which can be translated as "quality, peculiarity, attribute, property". Its original and common meaning is a thread, implying the original materials that weave together to make up reality. The concept is originally notable as a feature of Samkhya philosophy, now a key concept in nearly all schools of Hindu philosophy. Maitrayaniya Upanishad is one of the earliest texts making an explicit reference to Hindu trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and linking them to their Guna – as creator/activity, preserver/purity, destroyer/recycler respectively. Chapters 2, 3, 7, 13, 14, 17 and 18 of Bhagavad Gita discuss Guna, with chapter 14 being the basic one.

1- The supreme knoweldge. (1-4)

2. They who, having resorted to this knowledge, have attained to unity with Me, are neither born in the creation, nor disturbed in the dissolution, 

Evolution of the universe from the union of Spirit and Matter. 

Knowledge of the origin of the universe is necessary for Salvation. (3-4) 

3. My womb is the great Brahman ; in that I place the germ ; thence, O Bharata, is the birth of all beings.

My womb: My own Prakriti, — i.e., the Prakriti which belongs to Me, the Maya made up of the three Gunas, the material cause of all beings. This Prakriti is spoken of as great because it is greater than all effects ; and as the source and nourishing energy of all Its modifications, It is termed Brahman. In that Great Brahman I place the germ, the seed of the birth of the Hiranyagarbha, the seed which gives birth to all beings. I who am possessed of the two potencies (Saktis), the two Prakritis of Kshetra and the Kshetrajna, unite the Kshetrajna with Kshetra, the Kshetrajna conforming Himself to the upadhis of avidya (nescience), kama (desire), and karma (action). This act of impregnation gives rise to the birth of all beings through the birth of the Hiranyagarbha. (Baghavad Gita, with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, transl. A. Mahadeva Sastri, 1901)

2- The nature and functions of the gunas. (5-18) 

The gunas bind the soul. (5) 

5. Sattva, Rajas, Tamas, — these gunas, O mighty-armed, born of Prakriti, bind fast in the body the embodied, the indestructible.

6. Of these, Sattva, which, from its stainlessness, is lucid and healthy, binds by attachment to happiness and by attachment to knowledge, O sinless one. 

Thus it is through avidya alone—which forms an attribute (dharma) of the Self as the non-discrimination between the object and the subject,—that Sattva causes the Self to be attached as it were to happiness which is not His own, causes Him, who is free from all attachment, to be engrossed as it were in happiness; causes to feel happy as it were Him who does not possess the happiness. (Baghavad Gita, with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, transl. A. Mahadeva Sastri, 1901)

7. Know thou Rajas (to be) of the nature of passion, the source of thirst and attachment; it binds fast, O son of Kunti, the embodied one by attachment to action. 

8. But, know thou Tamas to be born of unwisdom, deluding all embodied beings; by heedlessness, indolence and sloth, it binds fast, O Bharata. 

9. Sattva attaches to happiness, Rajas to action, O Bharata, while Tamas, enshrouding wisdom, attaches, on the contrary, to heedlessness.  

The time when a soul reaches the status of an individual (i.e. is born) by adopting the I-am-the-body attitude is an inauspicious moment. From birth until death he imagines the functions of the body as his own. 

Sattva attribute The Sattva attribute traps the individual by the strings of pleasure and learning. The learned individual roars due to vanity and kicks around due to conceit and loses the bliss of the Self-realisation. He feels elated when people honour him for his learning. He feels happy by small gains and he brags around that very little satisfies him. He says how fortunate he is to have none as happy as himself. He is flooded with the eight righteous Sattva-attributed emotions.

As if this is not enough, another binding in the form of the pride of his being learned trails him. He does not feel sorry that he has lost the realisation of his being the Soul. On the contrary he swells with pride of his worldly knowledge. The soul in the body, because of worldly outward knowledge considers himself as the body. He knows the art of handling worldly affairs and becomes expert in the rituals of yajnas. His knowledge can take him up to heaven and he thinks that currently there is none as knowledgeable as he is and that he alone is clever. In this way the Sattva attribute pulls this lame individual like bull with the reins of pleasure and learning. 

Now listen to the characteristics of Tama attribute. Tama attribute is that which veils the practical view of a person as if the sky is covered by dark clouds of delusion, which grows by ignorance, and makes the whole world dance with delusion, of which thoughtlessness is the password and which is the pot of honey of ignorance which keeps individuals under illusion. This Tama attribute chains those who consider the body itself to be the soul.  (Dnyaneshwari; 14:145-158, transl. M.R. Yardi) 

How to know when a particular guna is predominant. (11-13) 

Out of these the Raja and the Tama cause one's downfall while without the Sattva attribute one does not attain Knowledge. Therefore just as some people renounce everything to adopt the fourth type of life (i.e. that of sanyasin) a Sadhak (aspirant) should give up all and live throughout his life with the Sattva attribute. (Dnyaneshwari; 14:265-270, transl. M.R. Yardi) 

Life after death as governed by the gunas. (14-16) 

16. The fruit of good action, they say, is Sattvic and pure; while the fruit of Rajas is pain, and ignorance is the fruit of Tamas. 

The functions of the gunas summed up. (17-18) 

18. Those who follow Sattva go upwards ; the Rajasic remain in the middle; and the Tamasic, who follow in the course of the lowest guna, go downwards.

Those who follow the course of Sattva-guna will be born in the region of the Devas or the like. The Rajasic will dwell among men ; The Tamasic—those who follow the course of Tamas, the lowest guna—will go down, i.e., they will be born in the wombs of cattle and the like creatures. (Baghavad Gita, with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, transl. A. Mahadeva Sastri, 1901)

3- Transcending the gunas (19-27)

Realisation of the Self beyond the gunas leads to immortality. (19-20) 

19. When the seer beholds not an agent other than the gunas and knows Him who is higher than the gunas, he attains to My being.

When a man is enlightened and realises that there is no agent other than the gunas which transform themselves into the bodies, senses and sense-objects, when he sees that it is the gunas that in all their modifications constitute the agent in all actions ; when he sees Him who is distinct from the gunas, who is the Witness of the gunas and of their functions, then he attains to my being : i. e., seeing ' that All is Vasudeva, he becomes Vasudeva. (Baghavad Gita, with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, transl. A. Mahadeva Sastri, 1901)

The marks of a liberated soul. (21-22) 

21. By what marks, O Lord, is he known who has crossed beyond those three Gunas ? What is his conduct, and how does he pass beyond those three gunas ?

Unlike a man of Sattva (or Rajas or Tamas) who longs for the Sattvic (or Rajasic or Tamasic) states which first presented themselves to his consiousness and then disappeared, he who has risen above the gunas does not long after things which have disappeared. — This is a mark which others cannot perceive; it serves as a mark for the individual himself, as it can be perceived by himself alone ; no man indeed can perceive the hatred or the desire which presents itself to another man's consciousness. (Baghavad Gita, with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, transl. A. Mahadeva Sastri, 1901)

The conduct in life of the Liberated one. (23-25) 

24. Her to whom pain and pleasure are alike, who dwells in the Self, to whom a clod of earth and stone and gold are alike, to whom the dear and the undear are alike, who is a man of wisdom, to whom censure and praiseare same;

Moreover, 25. The same in honour and disgrace, the same towards friends and enemies, abandoning all undertakings,—he is said to have crossed beyond the gunas. 

The same : unaffected. Though neutral from their own standpoint, some appear to others as if they were on the side of friends or on the side of foes ; but this man appears to be same to friends and foes. He renounces all actions, productive of visible and invisible results, except those which are necessary for the bare maintenance of the body. (Baghavad Gita, with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, transl. A. Mahadeva Sastri, 1901)

Devotion to the Lord leads to liberation. (26) Unity of Atman. (27) 

The dust particles on the earth or the snow particles in the Himalayas are not different similarly I am in me (i.e. the universe). When the outlook of equality that one is not different from God is developed I call it devotion. This outlook is the best knowledge and the essence of yoga.  Because of it the attitude that "I am Brahman" comes to the surface. With this attitude that knowledge also dissolves. When the difference vanishes the knowledge also vanishes. The illusion that the devotee is on this shore and I am across disappears and what remains is only the oneness between the two. Then the question of conquering the attributes does not remain because with the entwinement of oneness they also disappear. Arjuna, this state is called the state of oneness with Brahman. He who is devoted to me is the one to attain it. Brahman weds him who carries devotion to me in this manner. He who serves me with the outlook of knowledge is the crown jewel of the oneness with Brahman. Attaining this state of oneness is called the liberation while in body or the fourth achievement. Devotion to me is the ladder for reaching the oneness with Brahman. (Dnyaneshwari; 14:371 -398, transl. M.R. Yardi) 

Bhagavad Gita Summary: Chapter 13: Kshetra Kshetragya Vibhagayoga or The Yoga of Difference between the Field and Field-Knower

The first six chapters of this book declared the nature of the individual spirit ; the six succeeding chapters dealt with the nature of the universal spirit; with this chapter begins the final hexad, which declares the relation between the two to be identity, — the Spirit or Consciousness as itself being one and indivisible. (Mohini Chatterji, Bhagavad Gita, 1887)

Image: Ardhanarishvara

Chapter 13: Kshetra Kshetragya Vibhagayoga or The Yoga of Difference between the Field and Field-Knower (34 verses)

This chapter is similar to the philosophy of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras in that it posits a psychological aspect to Purusha and Prakriti. The soul has a microcosmic correspondence to the Macrocosmic principles of Purusha and Prakriti, and the recognition that the Purusha is not involved with Prakriti allows for the transcendent union with the Purusha.

1- The field and its knower.  (1-11)

The body and the soul. (1) 

The Blessed Lord said : 1. This, the body, O son of Kunti, is called Kshetra ; him who knows it, those who know of them call Kshetrajna. 

Matter in all its forms. (5-6)

5. The Great Elements, Egoism, Reason, as also the Unmanifested, the ten senses and one, and the five objects of the senses; 

6. Desire, hatred, pleasure, pain, the aggregate, intelligence, courage ;—the Kshetrahas been thus briefly described with its modifications. 

If we can grasp the idea of the perishable nature of Ahankara-egotism, the perishable nature of the other elements can be understood. It is a fact that we do identify ourselves with the ever-changing perishable body, and with its conditions and relations, which are also ever-changing. We say, “I am happy, or I am sad,” “I am sick or I am well,” “I am contented or I am dissatisfied,” all of these expressions being due to some form or condition which is changeable. 

We should observe that the self-identifying attachment is chiefly concerned with the present form and conditions, although we are aware that other forms and conditions have existed in the past, to which we were attached by like or dislike, and that still others will exist in the future. (Crosbie, Essays on the Gita, 190-91) 

2- Virtues conducive to Self-knowledge. (7-11) 

7. Humility, modesty, innocence, patience, uprightness, service of the teacher, purity, steadfastness, self-control; 

8. Absence of attachment for objects of the senses, and also absence of egoism ; perception of evil in birth, death and old age, in sickness and pain;

9. Unattachment, absence of affection for son, wife, home and the like, and constant, equanimity on the attainment of the desirable and the undesirable;

10. Unflinching devotion to Me in Yoga of nonseparation, resort to solitary places, distaste for the society of men;

11. Constancy in Self-knowledge, perception of the end of the knowledge of truth. This is declared to be knowledge, and what is opposed to it is ignorance. 

Self-knowledge : knowledge of the Self and the like. Perception, etc : Knowledge of truth results from the mature development of such attributes as humility (xiii. 7), which are the means of attaining knowledge. The end of this knowledge is moksha, the cessation of mortal existence, of samsara. The end should be kept in view ; for, it is only when one perceives the end of the knowledge of truth that one will endeavour to cultivate the attributes which are the means of attaining that knowledge. 

These attributes — from humility to perception of the end of the knowledge of truth —are declared to be knowledge, because they are conducive to knowledge. What is opposed to this — viz., pride, hypocrisy, cruelty, impatience, insincerity and the like is ignorance, which should be known and avoided as tending to the perpetuation of samsara.  (Baghavad Gita, with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, transl. A. Mahadeva Sastri, 1901)

3- Brahman, the Knowable. (12-18) 

Brahman is all. (15)  Brahman is the one Self in all. (16) 

Moreover, 16. And undivided, yet remaining divided as it were in beings ; supporter of beings, too, is That, the Knowable ; devouring, yet generating. 

Brahman is the Illuminator of all. (17) Seek the Light through devotion. (18) 

17. The Light even of lights, That is said to be beyond darkness. Knowledge, the Knowable, the Goal of knowledge, (It) is implanted in the heart of every one. The Light is in the heart of every one. 

4- Prakriti and Purusha are eternal. (19-23)

Prakriti and Purusha as the Cause of samsara. (19-20)

19. Know thou that Prakriti as well as Purusha are both beginningless ; and know thou also that all forms and qualities are born of Prakriti. 

Play of Prakriti: This Prakriti which is like a big island of illusion, which pervades everything, has created emotions. Passions are fostered with her support. Delusion blooms because of her. She is known as divine Maya.  She makes the language grow, creates this material world, and ceaselessly invades it with materialistic way of life. All arts, skills are born of her. Desires, knowledge and actions are created from her. All the tunes and sounds are minted out by her. She is the home of miracles. 

In fact everything that happens in the world is her play. The creation of the world and its dissolution are her morning and evening respectively. She is thus the wonderful illusionist. She is the mate of the lonely Purush, companion of the unattached (Brahman) and she resides in the void. Her capability is so high that she keeps the uncontrollable Purush under control.  (Dnyaneshwari; 13: 991-1021, transl. M.R. Yardi) 

Avidya and Kama are the cause of rebirths. (21) 

21. Purusha,when seated in Prakriti, experiences the qualities born of Prakriti. Attachment to the qualities is the cause of his birth in good and evil wombs.

Self-knowledge removes the cause of samsara. (22-23) 

22. Spectator and Permitter, Supporter, Enjoyer, the Great Lord, and also spoken of as the Supreme Self, (is) the Purusha Supreme in this body. 

5- The Union of Kshetra and Kshetrajna (24-34)

The four paths to Self-knowledge. (24-25) 

24. By meditation some behold the Self in the self by the self, others by Sankhya-Yoga, and others by Karma-Yoga. 

Meditation (Dhyana) consists in withdrawing by concentration hearing and other senses into the Manas away from sound and other sense-objects, then withdrawing Manas into the Inner Intelligence, and then contemplating (that Inner Intelligence). Hence the comparison, " the crane meditates as it were; the earth meditates as it were the mountains meditate as it were" (Chha. Up. 7-6-1) Dhyana is a continuous and unbroken thought like a line of flowing oil. By meditation the Yogins behold the Self, the Inner Intelligence, in the self (Buddhi) by the self, by their own intelligence, i.e., by the antah-karana refined by Dhyana. — 

Sankhya consists in thinking thus : 'these, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, are Gunas, Atman is the witness of their acts, eternal, and distinct from the Gunas.' By Sankhya- Yoga "some behold the Self in the self by the self. "—  

Karma is Yoga, i.e., that Karma or action which is performed in the service of the Lord (Isvara). Such a course of action is Yoga—only by a figure of speech—inasmuch as it leads to Yoga. Some behold the Self by this Yoga of action, which, causing purity of the mind (sattva), gives rise to knowledge. (Baghavad Gita, with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, transl. A. Mahadeva Sastri, 1901)

The one Self in all. (27) 

27. He sees, who sees the Supreme Lord, remaining the same in all beings, the undying in the dying. 

Knowledge of the one Self leads to moksha. (28) 

28. Because he who sees the Lord, seated the same everywhere, destroys not the self by the self, therefore he reaches the Supreme Goal.

Prakriti acts, not the Self. (29) 

29. He sees, who sees all actions performed by Prakriti alone and the Self not acting. 

What is known by the name Supreme Soul, even though it exists in the body, always remains in its pure state. Actually it is not correct to say that Soul resides in the body. The soul is said to be in the body in the same way as when one looks at one's face in the mirror and say it is his face. It is totally meaningless to say that soul is related to the body.  Body is strung in the thread of the five principles and it rotates in the wheel of birth and death. 

This body is like a ball of butter inserted in the mouth of the fire that is Time. It vanishes in the short span of time that a fly takes to flutter its wings. If he falls in fire it turns to ashes and if it falls prey to a dog then it turns to fecal matter. If it escapes these two then a bunch of worms is created in it. Thus the this body comes to a disgusting end. Though the body reaches this fate the soul is eternal, selfilluminating, self-sufficient and beginningless. (Dnyaneshwari; 13: 1094-1107, transl. M.R. Yardi) 

The self is the source and the abode of all. (30) 

30. When a man realises the whole variety of beings as resting in the One, and as an evolution from that (One) alone, then he becomes Brahman.

The doctrine summed up. (34)

The teaching of the whole discourse is concluded as follows : 34. They who by the eye of wisdom perceive the distinction between Kshetra and Kshetrajna, and the dissolution of the Cause of beings,—they go to the Supreme. 

Astrology: Summer Solstice, June 21 2022

Some of the most important aspects of the year occurred during the Spring season: The Jupiter-Neptune conjunction on April 12, Jupiter sextile Pluto on May 3rd, a New Moon/Solar Eclipse on April 30,  and a Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse on May 16.

It seems that the powerful May 16 eclipse had quite an impact, with several high-profile elections coinciding with that period:  Russia lost an important ally as Pakistan president Imran Khan was voted out (April 9). Hong Kong Pro-Beijing candidate John Lee was elected as democratic structures were radically curtailed (May 8). Emmanuel Macron’s party was re-elected in France (May 10). A financially struggling Sri Lanka elected a new government (May 17). The Philippines made a decidedly conservative new government choice (May 17).  Columbia is in a tight two-way race (June 19) (Gustavo Petro won, Colombia will have a leftist president for the first time.)

Moreover, Sweden and Norway have made steps to join NATO (May 26). Additionally, an epidemic of mass shootings reached a crisis-point in the US, for example, Buffalo, (May 14), Uvalde, Texas (May 24).

Love in a Dangerous Time

For the Summer chart, which can be considered as a snapshot of the whole quarter, the tightest aspect is one I don't usually consider, but it seems significant here:

Sun quincunx Pluto indicates a mini-crisis or threat. You may feel a buildup of pressure to an intense level that results in neurotic, obsessive, or destructive behavior. An event or person may trigger this tipping point by taking away your personal power. In relationships, you could react by trying to control and manipulate the other person which would result in conflict and bruised egos.This crisis, turning point, or serious decision is best viewed as a self-improvement exercise. You can transform your life for the better and have a positive effect on someone or humanity in general. (Astrology King).

Some other fairly tight aspects include:

Venus square Saturn brings difficulties relating to others, anxiety, stiffness with your affections, emotional distance.

Moon square Sun brings conflict between what you want and what you need. a discrepancy between the demands of your personal life and what is expected of you at work.

Sun square Neptune  can  can be a time of illusions and confusion, or it can be a very inspired time. Recognizing that you need more on a spiritual level can help you handle the transit more constructively. Energy levels may be low or up-and-down. (Café Astrology)

With Mars in Aries square Pluto in Capricorn here, there begins roughly a month of volatile energies, going exact on July 1^st . Desires are intense and difficult to satisfy under this influence. A tendency to bully and confront may dominate. Efforts to make changes could be thwarted, or power struggles emerge. It would be wise to observe whatever powerful feelings that confrontations or conflicts arouse under this influence, as this transit has a way of pulling out suppressed matter, or emotional “slush”.  The trick is to remain flexible and to develop strategies. (Astrology King)

On a more positive note, we have a pretty tight minor grand trine with Venus, Neptune and Pluto which can be a useful support to help cut through all the static generated by the other aspects:

Venus in Taurus sextile Neptune in Pisces is imaginative and attuned to the world of beauty and romance,  a “magical” time on a romantic and social level relationships or with your personal finances.

Venus trine Pluto in Capricorn  can awaken deeper aspects of love, a renewal of a commitment. Feelings are intense and impassioned, and one could discover something intimate and relevant about a partner or about your own love nature.(Café Astrology)

Upcoming

Although overall, the planetary aspects will be evolving toward more peaceful figures over the next year, it seems possible that turbulant times could continue until Pluto leaves Capricorn in January 2024.  The difficult Saturn-Uranus square will have faded by January 2023.

from September 23 to October 23 Saturn and Uranus are within 1° of a square aspect

Oct 25 – Solar Eclipse  

References

https://astrologyking.com/mars-square-pluto/

https://astrologyking.com/sun-quincunx-pluto/

https://cafeastrology.com/thisweekinastrology.html

Blavatsky on the History of Early Christianity and Gnosticism

Isis Unveiled, Vol. 2,  Chapter 3

Overview of Early Gnosticism in Relation to Nazarene Groups (Divisions Among the Early Christians)

This chapter gives quite an intricate study of the origins of early Christianity from the perspective of comparative religion. Relying on some of the very learned and critical studies of the period, she adroitly follows the intricacies of the mystical movements from a period where there was really not a lot of historical records. What emerges is an interesting alternative portrayal of Jesus and Gnosticism, and so opens a theme that will be further pursued in most subsequent chapters. What is interesting is that, despite that focus on esoteric tradition, her views are quite realistic and modest, merely hinting at certain possibilities, based on historical research. Her emphasis on the term 'Nazarene' is quite distinctive and original, as their is little historical testimony related to this term. The subsequent discoveries of the Qmran and Nag Hammadi mystical texts tend to corroborate her ideas.

1- Peter and the Myth of Apostolic Succession (p.123)

Christianity sprung from perennial tradition 123/ Peter and the Dogma of Apostolic Succession 125 / Apocryphal Tradition about Peter and the Church 125 / Peter Apostle of Circumcision 126 / Sepher Toldos Jeshu 127

Clement describes Basilides, the Gnostic, as “a philosopher devoted to the contemplation of divine things.” This very appropriate expression may be applied to many of the founders of the more important sects which later were all engulfed in one — that stupendous compound of unintelligible dogmas enforced by Irenaeus, Tertullian, and others, which is now termed Christianity. If these must be called heresies, then early Christianity itself must be included in the number. Basilides and Valentinus preceded Irenaeus and Tertullian; and the two latter Fathers had less facts than the two former Gnostics to show that their heresy was plausible. Neither divine right nor truth brought about the triumph of their Christianity; fate alone was propitious. We can assert, with entire plausibility, that there is not one of all these sects — Kabalism, Judaism, and our present Christianity included — but sprung from the two main branches of that one mother-trunk, the once universal religion, which antedated the Vedaic ages — we speak of that prehistoric Buddhism which merged later into Brahmanism. (123)

We must once more return to that greatest of all the Patristic frauds; the one which has undeniably helped the Roman Catholic Church to its unmerited supremacy, viz.: the barefaced assertion, in the teeth of historical evidence, that Peter suffered martyrdom at Rome. It is but too natural that the Latin clergy should cling to it, for, with the exposure of the fraudulent nature of this pretext, the dogma of apostolic succession must fall to the ground. (125)

2- Nazarenes in Relation to Ebionites and Essenes (127)

Nazarenes and Ebionites 127

We may the more readily credit this friendship between Peter and his late co-religionists as we find in Theodoret the following assertion: “The Nazarenes are Jews, honoring the ANOINTED (Jesus) as a just man and using the Evangel according to Peter.”** Peter was a Nazarene, according to the Talmud. He belonged to the sect of the later Nazarenes, which dissented from the followers of John the Baptist, and became a rival sect; and which — as tradition goes — was instituted by Jesus himself.

History finds the first Christian sects to have been either Nazarenes like John the Baptist; or Ebionites, among whom were many of the relatives of Jesus; or Essenes (Iessaens) the Therapeutae, healers, of which the Nazaria were a branch. All these sects, which only in the days of Irenaeus began to be considered heretical, were more or less kabalistic. They believed in the expulsion of demons by magical incantations, and practiced this method; Jervis terms the Nabatheans and other such sects “wandering Jewish exorcists,”*** the Arabic word Nabae, meaning to wander, and the Hebrew [[Heb char]] naba, to prophesy. The Talmud indiscriminately calls all the Christians Nozari.* All the Gnostic sects equally believed in magic. Irenaeus, in describing the followers of Basilides, says, “They use images, invocations, incantations, and all other things pertaining unto magic.” Dunlap, on the authority of Lightfoot, shows that Jesus was called Nazaraios, in reference to his humble and mean external condition; “for Nazaraios means separation, alienation from other men.”** (127)

3- Jehovistic and Chaldean currents in Judaism (128)

Exoteric and Esoteric Religion in the Old Testament 128

The Jewish Scriptures indicate two distinct worships and religions among the Israelites; that of Bacchus-worship under the mask of Jehovah, and that of the Chaldean initiates to whom belonged some of the nazars, the theurgists, and a few of the prophets. The headquarters of these were always at Babylon and Chaldea, where two rival schools of Magians can be distinctly shown. Those who would doubt the statement will have in such a case to account for the discrepancy between history and Plato, who of all men of his day was certainly one of the best informed. Speaking of the Magians, he shows them as instructing the Persian kings of Zoroaster, as the son or priest of Oromasdes; and yet Darius, in the inscription at Bihistun, boasts of having restored the cultus of Ormazd and put down the Magian rites! Evidently there were two distinct and antagonistic Magian schools. The oldest and the most esoteric of the two being that which, satisfied with its unassailable knowledge and secret power, was content to apparently relinquish her exoteric popularity, and concede her supremacy into the hands of the reforming Darius. The later Gnostics showed the same prudent policy by accommodating themselves in every country to the prevailing religious forms, still secretly adhering to their own essential doctrines. (128)

4- John the Baptist’s relation to Nazarenes (132)

John the Baptist and the Nazarenes 132 / Essenes 133 / Baptism 134 / Pharisees and Saducees 135 / The Ginza (Codex Nazareus 136)

The oldest Nazarenes, who were the descendants of the Scripture nazars, and whose last prominent leader was John the Baptist, although never very orthodox in the sight of the scribes and Pharisees of Jerusalem were, nevertheless, respected and left unmolested. Even Herod “feared the multitude” because they regarded John as a prophet (Matthew xiv. 5). But the followers of Jesus evidently adhered to a sect which became a still more exasperating thorn in their side. It appeared as a heresy within another heresy; for while the nazars of the olden times, the “Sons of the Prophets,” were Chaldean kabalists, the adepts of the new dissenting sect showed themselves reformers and innovators from the first. 

The great similitude traced by some critics between the rites and observances of the earliest Christians and those of the Essenes may be accounted for without the slightest difficulty. The Essenes, as we remarked just now, were the converts of Buddhist missionaries who had overrun Egypt, Greece, and even Judea at one time, since the reign of Asoka the zealous propagandist; and while it is evidently to the Essenes that belongs the honor of having had the Nazarene reformer, Jesus, as a pupil, still the latter is found disagreeing with his early teachers on several questions of formal observance. He cannot strictly be called an Essene, for reasons which we will indicate further on, neither was he a nazar, or Nazaria of the older sect. What Jesus was, may be found in the Codex Nazaraeus, in the unjust accusations of the Bardesanian Gnostics. (133)

5- Jesus’ relation to Nazarenes (137)

Hindu Baptism Ceremonies 137 / Nazars, Essenes, Galileans 138

The motive of Jesus was evidently like that of Gautama-Buddha, to benefit humanity at large by producing a religious reform which should give it a religion of pure ethics; the true knowledge of God and nature having remained until then solely in the hands of the esoteric sects, and their adepts. As Jesus used oil and the Essenes never used aught but pure water,* he cannot be called a strict Essene. On the other hand, the Essenes were also “set apart”; they were healers (assaya) and dwelt in the desert as all ascetics did. (133)

6- Zoroastrian connection to Nazarenes (140)

Nazars and Paganism 141 / Nazars and Zoroastrianism 142

If we carefully trace the terms nazar, and nazaret, throughout the best known works of ancient writers, we will meet them in connection with “Pagan” as well as Jewish adepts. Thus, Alexander Polyhistor says of Pythagoras that he was a disciple of the Assyrian Nazaret, whom some suppose to be Ezekiel. Diogenes Laertius states most positively that Pythagoras, after being initiated into all the Mysteries of the Greeks and barbarians, “went into Egypt and afterward visited the Chaldeans and Magi”; and Apuleius maintains that it was Zoroaster who instructed Pythagoras.

Were we to suggest that the Hebrew nazars, the railing prophets of the “Lord,” had been initiated into the so-called Pagan mysteries, and belonged (or at least a majority of them) to the same Lodge or circle of adepts as those who were considered idolaters; that their “circle of prophets” was but a collateral branch of a secret association, which we may well term “international,” what a visitation of Christian wrath would we not incur! And still, the case looks strangely suspicious. (141)

7- Essenes and Mystery Religions in relation to Nazarenes (143)

Luke, who was a physician, is designated in the Syriac texts as Asaia, the Essaian or Essene. Josephus and Philo Judaeus have sufficiently described this sect to leave no doubt in our mind that the Nazarene Reformer, after having received his education in their dwellings in the desert, and been duly initiated in the Mysteries, preferred the free and independent life of a wandering Nazaria, and so separated or inazarenized himself from them, thus becoming a travelling Therapeute, a Nazaria, a healer. Every Therapeute, before quitting his community, had to do the same. Both Jesus and St. John the Baptist preached the end of the Age;** which proves their knowledge of the secret computation of the priests and kabalists, who with the chiefs of the Essene communities alone had the secret of the duration of the cycles. The latter were kabalists and theurgists; “they had their mystic books, and predicted future events,” says Munk.*** (144)

8- Jesus and the Ancient Portrayal of Magicians (147)

All this points undeniably to the fact, that except a handful of self-styled Christians who subsequently won the day, all the civilized portion of the Pagans who knew of Jesus honored him as a philosopher, an adept whom they placed on the same level with Pythagoras and Apollonius. Whence such a veneration on their part for a man, were he simply, as represented by the Synoptics, a poor, unknown Jewish carpenter from Nazareth? As an incarnated God there is no single record of him on this earth capable of withstanding the critical examination of science; as one of the greatest reformers, an inveterate enemy of every theological dogmatism, a persecutor of bigotry, a teacher of one of the most sublime codes of ethics, Jesus is one of the grandest and most clearly-defined figures on the panorama of human history. His age may, with every day, be receding farther and farther back into the gloomy and hazy mists of the past; and his theology — based on human fancy and supported by untenable dogmas may, nay, must with every day lose more of its unmerited prestige; alone the grand figure of the philosopher and moral reformer instead of growing paler will become with every century more pronounced and more clearly defined. It will reign supreme and universal only on that day when the whole of humanity recognizes but one father — the UNKNOWN ONE above — and one brother — the whole of mankind below. (150)

9- Docetic Aspect of Jesus and Reincarnation (151)

While the kabalists called this mysterious and rare occurrence of the union of spirit with the mortal charge entrusted to its care, the “descent of the Angel Gabriel” (the latter being a kind of generic name for it), the Messenger of Life, and the angel Metatron; and while the Nazarenes termed the same Abel-Zivo,* the Delegatus sent by the Lord of Celsitude, it was universally known as the “Anointed Spirit.”

Thus it is the acceptation of this doctrine which caused the Gnostics to maintain that Jesus was a man overshadowed by the Christos or Messenger of Life, and that his despairing cry from the cross “Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachthani,” was wrung from him at the instant when he felt that this inspiring Presence had finally abandoned him, for — as some affirmed — his faith had also abandoned him when on the cross. (154)

10 – Basilides, Buddhism, the Mystic Christ (155)

Thus, Christos, as a unity, is but an abstraction: a general idea representing the collective aggregation of the numberless spirit-entities, which are the direct emanations of the infinite, invisible, incomprehensible FIRST CAUSE — the individual spirits of men, erroneously called the souls. They are the divine sons of God, of which some only overshadow mortal men — but this the majority — some remain forever planetary spirits, and some — the smaller and rare minority — unite themselves during life with some men. Such God-like beings as Gautama-Buddha, Jesus, Tissoo, Christna, and a few others had united themselves with their spirits permanently — hence, they became gods on earth. Others, such as Moses, Pythagoras, Apollonius, Plotinus, Confucius, Plato, Iamblichus, and some Christian saints, having at intervals been so united, have taken rank in history as demi-gods and leaders of mankind. When unburdened of their terrestrial tabernacles, their freed souls, henceforth united forever with their spirits, rejoin the whole shining host, which is bound together in one spiritual solidarity of thought and deed, and called “the anointed.” Hence, the meaning of the Gnostics, who, by saying that “Christos” suffered spiritually for humanity, implied that his Divine Spirit suffered mostly. (159)

11- Marcion (159)

Was Marcion so far wrong? Was it blasphemy, or was it intuition, divine inspiration in him to express that which every honest heart yearning for truth, more or less feels and acknowledges? If in his sincere desire to establish a purely spiritual religion, a universal faith based on unadulterated truth, he found it necessary to make of Christianity an entirely new and separate system from that of Judaism, did not Marcion have the very words of Christ for his authority? “No man putteth a piece of new cloth into an old garment . . . for the rent is made worse. . . . Neither do men put new wine into old bottles, else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish; but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.” In what particular does the jealous, wrathful, revengeful God of Israel resemble the unknown deity, the God of mercy preached by Jesus; — his Father who is in Heaven, and the Father of all humanity? (163)

12- Hinduism, Buddhism, and Bacchus worship compared to Christianity (163)

“Good master, what shall I do that I may have eternal life?” asks a man of Jesus. “Keep the commandments.” “Which?” “Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,”** is the answer.

“What shall I do to obtain possession of Bhodi? (knowledge of eternal truth)” asks a disciple of his Buddhist master. “What way is there to become an Upasaka?” “Keep the commandments.” “What are they?” “Thou shalt abstain all thy life from murder, theft, adultery, and lying,” answers the master.***

Identical injunctions are they not? Divine injunctions, the living up to which would purify and exalt humanity. But are they more divine when uttered through one mouth than another? If it is god-like to return good for evil, does the enunciation of the precept by a Nazarene give it any greater force than its enunciation by an Indian, or Thibetan philosopher? We see that the Golden Rule was not original with Jesus; that its birth-place was India. Do what we may, we cannot deny Sakya-Muni Buddha a less remote antiquity than several centuries before the birth of Jesus. In seeking a model for his system of ethics why should Jesus have gone to the foot of the Himalayas rather than to the foot of Sinai, but that the doctrines of Manu and Gautarna harmonized exactly with his own philosophy, while those of Jehovah were to him abhorrent and terrifying? The Hindus taught to return good for evil, but the Jehovistic command was: “An eye for an eye” and “a tooth for a tooth.” (164)

Prominent authors and works used in this chapter:

Louis Jacolliot (1837-1890), Histoire des Vierges. Les Peuples et les continents disparus (History of the Virgins. Vanished People and Continents) (1874)
La Bible dans l’Inde, ou la Vie de Iezeus Christna (The Bible in India or The life of Iezeus Christna) (1869)
Lydia Maria Child (1802 – 1880), The Progress of Religious Ideas Through Successive Ages
John Denison Baldwin (1809 –1883), Pre-Historic Nations; or, Inquiries Concerning Some of the Great Peoples and Civilizations of Antiquity (1869)
Stanislas Aignan Julien (1797 –1873), Histoire de la Vie de Hiouen-Thsang [History of the Life of Xuanzang] (1856). 

Buddhist Records of the Western World, by Hiuen Tsiang. 2 vols. (Vol 1, 2) Translated by Samuel Beal. London. 1884.
Jacques Joseph Champollion-Figeac (1778 –1867), Égypte Ancienne (1839)
Max Müller (1823 –1900), Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as Illustrated by the Religions of India (1878) “Buddhist Pilgrims”
On the Vanity of Idols (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 5)
Schott’s essay on Buddhism in Upper Asia and China (1846) Über den Buddhismus in Hochasien und in China. Berlin 1844; Probably quoted from The Travels of Marco Polo by Marco Polo, translated by Henry Yule